CLAUDE W. HAMAN, CDR, USN
Claude Haman '26
Lucky Bag
From the 1926 Lucky Bag:
Claude William Haman
Roseville, California
"Claude"
HERE you have a picture of a true Native son. To hear him talk, especially when we are having some rather bad weather you would be led to believe that he had made a great mistake by coming into the Navy; he should be selling real estate or be an active member of the Roseville Chamber of Commerce. He never gets tired of describing the wonders of the California climate or setting forth the advantages of living in his native podunk. "Four hours travel one way and you are in the snow in the mountains; four hours in the other direction and you can go surf bathing." Had he been a trifle more convincing, I would have resigned and followed Horace Greeley's advice.
Claude was never known to drag voluntarily, but by dint of much persuasion he would drag for a friend. At least he would at one time, but after several mishaps he became a one hundred per cent Red Mike. We always noticed, however, that when he did drag the girl had a very pleasant week-end. Maybe there was a reason out in California that prevented his becoming a Snake. Quien sabe?
"Let's see your ring, Claude; what is written inside of it?"
Claude William Haman
Roseville, California
"Claude"
HERE you have a picture of a true Native son. To hear him talk, especially when we are having some rather bad weather you would be led to believe that he had made a great mistake by coming into the Navy; he should be selling real estate or be an active member of the Roseville Chamber of Commerce. He never gets tired of describing the wonders of the California climate or setting forth the advantages of living in his native podunk. "Four hours travel one way and you are in the snow in the mountains; four hours in the other direction and you can go surf bathing." Had he been a trifle more convincing, I would have resigned and followed Horace Greeley's advice.
Claude was never known to drag voluntarily, but by dint of much persuasion he would drag for a friend. At least he would at one time, but after several mishaps he became a one hundred per cent Red Mike. We always noticed, however, that when he did drag the girl had a very pleasant week-end. Maybe there was a reason out in California that prevented his becoming a Snake. Quien sabe?
"Let's see your ring, Claude; what is written inside of it?"
Loss
Claude was lost on January 12, 1943 when he died of burns received while fighting a fire at the Bachelor Officers' Quarters, Naval Naval Station Argentia, Newfoundland.
Biography
From Find A Grave:
Only child of one-time Placer County (CA) Supervisor William Haman and his wife Susan Ann nee Vettel. The family moved from Sacramento to Roseville when Claude was a toddler. He graduated from Roseville Joint Union High School where he was student body president. He attended the US Naval Academy at Annapolis from where he graduated in 1926 and was commissioned Ensign that same year.
He subsequently advanced in grade as follows: Lieutenant (junior grade) in 1929, Lieutenant in 1936, Lieutenant Commander in 1940, and Commander in 1942. After graduation from the Naval Academy, he joined the USS Oklahoma and served in that battleship until April 1927. The following month he reported for duty under instruction at the Edgewood Arsenal Edgewood, MD, and continued this instruction at the Naval Torpedo Station, Newport, RI, until December 1927.
He served successively in the USS Brooks and USS Sands from January until October 1928, and during that period had temporary additional duty in flight training at the Naval Air Station, Hampton Roads, VA. In November 1928 he reported to the Naval Air Station, Pensacola, FL, for Flight training and was designated naval aviator on October 10, 1929. The following month he reported to Aircraft Squadrons, Battle Fleet and served until April 1931. He then had duty aboard the aircraft carrier Saratoga from April 1931 until April 1932. The following year he served at the Naval Air Station, San Diego, CA, and in June 1934 he was assigned duty with the aviation unit of the USS Indianapolis.
In May 1936 he joined the USS Wright and served with Patrol Squadron 11 attached to that aircraft tender and continued duty in that squadron when it was later attached to the USS Langley. From July 1937 until May 1940, he served consecutively with Patrol Squadron 1 and Patrol Squadron 8 (later redesignated Patrol Squadron 24) attached to Aircraft Squadrons based at Pearl Harbor. The following month he reported for duty in command of Observation Squadron 2, with additional duty in the USS Tennessee and commanded that squadron until January 1942, shortly after the outbreak of World War II.
He then had charge of fitting out Patrol Squadron 93 and assumed command upon its commissioning on January 5, 1942. His words at the commissioning as the first skipper of Patrol Squadron VP-93: "We are at War. I know as I just came from there. Let's go to work!" In October of that year he reported for duty as operations officer on the staff of the Commander, Patrol Wing 7. Commander Haman died of burns received while fighting a fire in the Bachelor Officers' Quarters, Naval Operating Base, Argentia. For his heroism at that time, he was posthumously awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal and the Purple Heart Medal.
He left a widow, Nina, and a daughter, Janet.
From researcher Kathy Franz:
Claude's local newspaper published a school column for Roseville high school. In January 1921, it reported that he was on the decorating committee for the junior class barn dance. In November, he was named Captain of the 51st Co. of California High School Cadets by Commandant Peters. In April,1922, Claude performed in “The Importance of Being Earnest.” The school column wrote in “Can You Imagine?” -- And best of all: Claude Haman being found in a hand bag? The next month, Claude played English gentleman John Worthing in the senior play.
Congressman John E. Raker appointed Claude to the Naval Academy.
On May 7, 1932, Claude married his high school classmate Nina Josephine Perry in the chapel of the Westminster Presbyterian church in Sacramento.
In April 1937, Claude was pilot of the lead-off Trail-Blazer amphibian plane during the Hawaiian flight of U. S. army planes. The planes replaced craft being used by patrol squadron VP8-F at Pearl Harbor.
In May, Claude sent his stepmother an air mail letter from Honolulu to Roseville. It bore a green China Clipper twenty-cent transpacific airmail stamp. For Easter in 1940, Claude and his wife sent his stepmother a lei made up of lotus blossoms. The lei traveled by China Clipper from Honolulu to San Francisco, then by plane to Sacramento, and finally by train to Roseville. It arrived in perfect condition.
In June 1937, Claude and his family sailed from Los Angeles to Honolulu, and in May 1940, they sailed back to San Francisco. However, they were back in Pearl Harbor during the attack.
With Claude’s death, Roseville placed its first Gold Star on its Flag of Honor. He expressed the wish that when he died, it would be in the service of his country. His wife Nina lost her father the next month.
Before living in Roseville, Claude’s father was superintendent of the Leland Stanford vineyard at Vina.
He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery and has a memory marker in California.
His wife remarried to his Naval Academy roommate, Donald Mills.
Photographs
Claude with his wife, Nina, and daughter, Janet, at Pearl Harbor in 1937.
"from the Roseville Public Library's William Haman Collection."
From The Sacramento Bee on January 16, 1943
From Hall of Valor:
The President of the United States of America takes pride in presenting the Navy and Marine Corps Medal (Posthumously) to Commander Claude William Haman, United States Navy, for heroism at the risk of life not involving conflict with an armed enemy during a fire on 12 January 1943. Discovering a fire in a corridor, Commander Haman ignored a nearby exit through which he could have escaped, seized a fire extinguisher and rushed toward the center of the flames in an attempt to check the fire which endangered the officers under his command. As he staggered away from the blaze, fatally burned, his only concern was for the safety of his men.
General Orders: Bureau of Naval Personnel Information Bulletin No. 315 (June 1943)
Service: Navy
Rank: Commander
Memorial Hall Error
Claude is not listed with his classmates. He was identified through the diligent efforts of Leslie Poche, a volunteer who combed through Shipmate issues to find operational losses not accounted for in Memorial Hall.
The "Register of Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the United States Navy and Marine Corps" was published annually from 1815 through at least the 1970s; it provided rank, command or station, and occasionally billet until the beginning of World War II when command/station was no longer included. Scanned copies were reviewed and data entered from the mid-1840s through 1922, when more-frequent Navy Directories were available.
The Navy Directory was a publication that provided information on the command, billet, and rank of every active and retired naval officer. Single editions have been found online from January 1915 and March 1918, and then from three to six editions per year from 1923 through 1940; the final edition is from April 1941.
The entries in both series of documents are sometimes cryptic and confusing. They are often inconsistent, even within an edition, with the name of commands; this is especially true for aviation squadrons in the 1920s and early 1930s.
Alumni listed at the same command may or may not have had significant interactions; they could have shared a stateroom or workspace, stood many hours of watch together… or, especially at the larger commands, they might not have known each other at all. The information provides the opportunity to draw connections that are otherwise invisible, though, and gives a fuller view of the professional experiences of these alumni in Memorial Hall.
October 1926
January 1927
April 1927
October 1927
January 1928
July 1928
October 1928
January 1929
LT Edwin Conway '20
LT LaRue Lawbaugh '20
LT Stephen Cooke '21
LT James Carney '21
LT Francis Bridget '21
LT John Jones '21
LTjg William Davis '22
April 1929
LT LaRue Lawbaugh '20
LT James Carney '21
LT Francis Bridget '21
LT John Jones '21
LTjg William Davis '22
LT James Craig '22
LTjg Walter Leach, Jr. '24
LTjg Hubert Waters '25
LTjg Creighton Lankford '25
July 1929
LT LaRue Lawbaugh '20
LT James Carney '21
LT John Jones '21
LTjg William Davis '22
LT James Craig '22
LTjg Matthias Marple, Jr. '23
LTjg Walter Leach, Jr. '24
LTjg Walter Dey '24
LTjg Hubert Waters '25
October 1929
LT John Jones '21
LTjg William Davis '22
LT James Craig '22
LTjg Matthias Marple, Jr. '23
LTjg Walter Dey '24
LTjg Hubert Hayter '24
LTjg John Waldron '24
LTjg Hubert Waters '25
ENS Henry G'Sell '26
January 1930
LT Thomas Fisher '18 (Light Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 2B)
LTjg Walter Leach, Jr. '24 (Light Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 2B)
LTjg Charles McDonald '24 (USS Saratoga)
LTjg Hubert Waters '25 (Aircraft Squadrons, Battle Fleet)
LTjg Creighton Lankford '25 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 1B)
LTjg Charles Signer '26 (Torpedo and Bombing Plane Squadron (VT) 2B)
ENS Robert Winters '27 (Aircraft Squadrons, Battle Fleet)
ENS John Eldridge, Jr. '27 (Aircraft Squadrons, Battle Fleet)
ENS Eugene Lindsey '27 (Aircraft Squadrons, Battle Fleet)
ENS Julian Greer '27 (Aircraft Squadrons, Battle Fleet)
ENS Henry Twohy '29 (USS Saratoga)
April 1930
LTjg Walter Leach, Jr. '24 (Light Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 2B)
LTjg Charles McDonald '24 (USS Saratoga)
LTjg Creighton Lankford '25 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 1B)
LTjg Carlton Hutchins '26 (Light Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 2B)
ENS Julian Greer '27 (Light Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 2B)
ENS Henry Twohy '29 (USS Saratoga)
ENS Jacob Britt '29 (USS Saratoga)
October 1930
LT Thomas Fisher '18 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
LT Van Moore '19 (USS Saratoga)
LT Dixie Kiefer '19 (USS Saratoga)
LTjg Walter Leach, Jr. '24 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
LTjg Creighton Lankford '25 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 1B)
LTjg Carlton Hutchins '26 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
LTjg Charles Signer '26 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
LTjg Robert Symes '27 (Torpedo and Bombing Plane Squadron (VT) 2B)
LTjg Renwick Calderhead '27 (Torpedo and Bombing Plane Squadron (VT) 2B)
LTjg Julian Greer '27 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
ENS Weldon Hamilton '28 (Torpedo and Bombing Plane Squadron (VT) 2B)
ENS Jacob Britt '29 (USS Saratoga)
ENS Charles Hart '30 (USS Saratoga)
ENS James Clarkson '30 (USS Saratoga)
ENS Dudley Morton '30 (USS Saratoga)
ENS John Craig '30 (USS Saratoga)
ENS James Kyes '30 (USS Saratoga)
January 1931
LT Thomas Fisher '18 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
LT Van Moore '19 (USS Saratoga)
LT Dixie Kiefer '19 (USS Saratoga)
LTjg Walter Leach, Jr. '24 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
LTjg Creighton Lankford '25 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 1B)
LTjg Carlton Hutchins '26 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
LTjg Charles Signer '26 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
LTjg Robert Symes '27 (Torpedo and Bombing Plane Squadron (VT) 2B)
LTjg Renwick Calderhead '27 (Torpedo and Bombing Plane Squadron (VT) 2B)
LTjg Julian Greer '27 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
ENS Weldon Hamilton '28 (Torpedo and Bombing Plane Squadron (VT) 2B)
ENS Jacob Britt '29 (USS Saratoga)
ENS Charles Hart '30 (USS Saratoga)
ENS James Clarkson '30 (USS Saratoga)
ENS Dudley Morton '30 (USS Saratoga)
ENS John Craig '30 (USS Saratoga)
ENS James Kyes '30 (USS Saratoga)
April 1931
LT Thomas Fisher '18 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
LT Van Moore '19 (USS Saratoga)
LT Dixie Kiefer '19 (USS Saratoga)
LTjg Walter Leach, Jr. '24 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
LTjg Creighton Lankford '25 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 1B)
LTjg Carlton Hutchins '26 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
LTjg Charles Signer '26 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
LTjg Renwick Calderhead '27 (Torpedo and Bombing Plane Squadron (VT) 2B)
LTjg Warren Graf '27 (USS Saratoga)
LTjg Julian Greer '27 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
ENS Weldon Hamilton '28 (Torpedo and Bombing Plane Squadron (VT) 2B)
ENS Jacob Britt '29 (USS Saratoga)
ENS James Clarkson '30 (USS Saratoga)
ENS James Kyes '30 (USS Saratoga)
July 1931
LTjg Walter Leach, Jr. '24 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
LTjg Robert Symes '27 (Torpedo and Bombing Plane Squadron (VT) 2B)
LTjg Eugene Davis '27 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
LTjg Renwick Calderhead '27 (Torpedo and Bombing Plane Squadron (VT) 2B)
LTjg Julian Greer '27 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
ENS William Arthur '29 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 1B)
ENS Lloyd Greenamyer '29 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 1B)
October 1931
LT Edwin Conway '20 (Torpedo and Bombing Plane Squadron (VT) 2B)
LTjg Walter Leach, Jr. '24 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
LTjg Robert Symes '27 (Torpedo and Bombing Plane Squadron (VT) 2B)
LTjg Eugene Davis '27 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
LTjg Renwick Calderhead '27 (Torpedo and Bombing Plane Squadron (VT) 2B)
ENS Weldon Hamilton '28 (Torpedo and Bombing Plane Squadron (VT) 2B)
ENS William Arthur '29 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 1B)
ENS William Oliver '29 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
ENS Lloyd Greenamyer '29 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 1B)
January 1932
LTjg Walter Leach, Jr. '24 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
LTjg Robert Symes '27 (Torpedo and Bombing Plane Squadron (VT) 2B)
LTjg Eugene Davis '27 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
LTjg Renwick Calderhead '27 (Torpedo and Bombing Plane Squadron (VT) 2B)
ENS Weldon Hamilton '28 (Torpedo and Bombing Plane Squadron (VT) 2B)
ENS William Arthur '29 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 1B)
ENS William Oliver '29 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
ENS Lloyd Greenamyer '29 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 1B)
April 1932
October 1932
January 1933
April 1933
July 1933
October 1933
April 1934
July 1934
October 1934
January 1935
April 1935
October 1935
January 1936
April 1936
July 1936
January 1937
April 1937
September 1937
January 1938
July 1938
January 1939
October 1939
June 1940
ENS Karl Border '39 (USS Tennessee)
ENS Alfred Wallace '39 (USS Tennessee)
ENS Carlton Rees '40 (USS Tennessee)
ENS James Cannon '40 (USS Tennessee)
November 1940
ENS Karl Border '39 (USS Tennessee)
ENS Dudley Adams '39 (USS Tennessee)
April 1941
Claude is one of 36 members of the Class of 1926 on Virtual Memorial Hall.
The "category" links below lead to lists of related Honorees; use them to explore further the service and sacrifice of alumni in Memorial Hall.
